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Canadians could soon have a new national anthem that will honor not only patriotic men, but also women, after a legislator introduced a bill on Wednesday.
“With my bill, I want to pay tribute to all the women who have worked and fought to build and shape the Canada that we know today,” said liberal legislator Mauril Belanger in a statement.
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If the bill is passed, the third line of the anthem will change from “True patriot love in all thy sons command” to “all of us command.” The change would mean that the lyrics would return to the original English version, which were changed in 1914 to include “son”' as a show of support for troops during World War I.
There have been ten other proposals to change the national anthem's wording, but conservative legislators have successfully blocked them by saying they were “grammatically unnecessary” and even saying that most soldiers are male.
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Let's also make O Canada a secular anthem that Canadians, regardless of faith (or none), will be proud to sing! #cdnpoli
— KevinSmith (@theOtherKSmith)
January 25, 2016
Primer Minister Justin Trudeau called on men and women to embrace feminism last Friday at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. “We shouldn’t be afraid to use the word feminist,” said Truedeau. “Men and women should use it to describe themselves whenever they want.”
“For women, this will means we are included and valued for our labors in building this country. It means this for all Canadians,” said Canadian senator Nancy Ruth.
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Women's groups expect the bill to pass since it has the support of the Liberal Party, which holds the majority in parliament.
Other countries have also recently changed their anthems: Austria changed it in 2012 to recognize women, and Switzerland held a contest to modernize its lyrics the year after.
“O Canada” became the country's national anthem in 1980, replacing “God Save the Queen.”
